EMINENZ, founded in 1989, are one of the oldest Black Metal bands from Germany. Having reached underground cult status back in the 90s due to their demonic live shows full of blood, gore and fire breathing, and the infamous live gig 1990 in Annaberg-Buchholz in support of Mayhem, the band remains to this day an institution in the German Black Metal scene, continually active for over three decades, with countless well attended and captivating live gigs and a very strong fan base especially in the local scene of Saxony.

Their first album back from a ten-year hiatus contains eight tracks. The title track kicks off the album. It begins with solemn background chants, and some serious clashing of weapons along with the scream of the injured. Beasts moan in delight. The main sound then kicks in, and it's muted, with Black Metal screams while the instrumentation builds some subtle keyboard melodies. Towards the middle, the melody switches to the lead guitars in some really monumental passages. A bossy riff takes the song to completion. "Lucifer's Awakening" opens with spoke words; evil and harrowing. This song features machine gun drumming and a darker edge.

"First Renegade" begins with bell strikes and more harrowing background noises. The riff is very dark and heavy, and borders more on the Death Metal side than the Black Metal side. "Something Beyond" is another song that opens with sinister background elements. If they could expand these into the music more, it might make for a less homogeneous sound, because from there, a more traditional riff takes over. Slow and grinding, it allows the vocals to take center stage. More solemn and nefarious background ambiance opens the song "Replica Santani." The beast sounds like he is feasting on human flesh and enjoying it. But the development is once again cut short but a relatively simple riff chugging away. Some pleasingly melodic leads come in after the half-way mark, but they are not along the main melody line quite as well as I had hoped.

"The Myth of Non-Existence" begins with some clean and solemn guitars, followed by some meaty bass notes along with some spacey keys. It is building something vile...a pounding riff with some melodic elements to boot. "Frozen Shadows" opens with crows squawking, and then segues into a dark and heavy riff along with a little more background ambiance. The swirling background elements keep a steady presence. "Doom Dominator" closes the album. It's really unlike any other song on the album in some sense, almost sounding like Melodic Death Metal. The main riff is commanding and weighted, and the length of the song is shorter. They also build some nice melodies throughout.

For a band from yesteryear, they are actually pretty good, injecting some melodies and nuanced background elements into their music. As I mentioned before, if they could find a way for these elements to occupy more ground, their sound could be more expansive. The album is good as it is and also something that I think may fans of extreme music would enjoy.